World Toilet Day

I've heard of some strange day celebrations in my days, but this one is as strane as it gets. There's Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, What if Dogs and Cats had Opposable Thumbs Day, Respect for Chickens Day, National Kick Butt Day,  Don't Step on a Bee Day..... you get the idea. But I just found out that November the 18th is 'World Toilet Day'. We are supposed to sit and...er...appreciate the fact that we can sit and dump when 1/3 of the world still poops in the open. The goal of the Toilet Day founders is get the 1 billion humans who still poo off a loo, to use one.

Apparently, sanitation problems abound from defecating (a high class word for an act of elimination, I think) off the toilet. The World Toilet Organization that sponsors the day says sanitation is their goal, given that open field pooing causes contamination of water sources which causes illness and death all across the world. But are not toilets a modern invention? People have been eliminating their body wastes wherever they happened to have the urges, for centuries. In fact, go to any busy bar any night and you might see some drunks eliminate in un toilet like areas of the bar.

I checked the web site of the World Toilet Organization to learn more about what I should do on Toilet Day next year. As far as I know, I use a loo every morning for my daily dump. And I swear that I wipe and flush!  Anyway, the mission statement of the World Toilet people seems nice enough-" A clean and safe toilet ensures health, dignity and well being-yet 40% of the world's population does not have access to toilets. World Toilet Organization is a global non-profit committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. We believe in empowering individuals through education, training and building local marketplaces opportunities to advocate for clean and safe sanitation facilities in their communities."

Those guys are serious about poo! They even have a World Toilet College (I wonder how one prepares for the entrance test to get into that college) to train people about toilet and sanitation practices. The college wants to "elevate the image of sanitation workers". Good luck on that. When one wades through other people's poo it's hard to envy that occupation. The good news is you can get certification as a poo-ologist or something, if you graduate from the World Toilet College.

Oh, I know you won't want to miss the World Toilet Summit next year. It's being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It could be held in a worse location though. This year they pooed in Solo, Indonesia. And one year the summit was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If you have ever been to Philadelphia you know there isn't much more to do there than take a good dump.
Cheers for World Toilet Day, and may all your defecation be on a golden toilet.